BJJ, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is an effective way to better your physical shape. As a result, many people started training it because they wanted to improve their physical shape. Today’s world is filled with distractions, and it seems as if everyone wants you to be as inactive as possible. So, how does BJJ change your body?
BJJ is a suitable activity to both build muscle and shed extra body fat because it’s an intense workout that also works your muscles. Additionally, it uses most of your muscle groups, such as the legs, hands, back, chest, arms, and shoulders. As a result, BJJ is an activity that burns plenty of calories, up to 1200 per hour.
In addition to the fact that it burns plenty of calories, and thus allows you to shed body fat, it provides numerous other physical benefits, such as the ones we’ll be discussing in this article.
If bettering your physical shape and becoming active is your goal, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—is a fantastic choice. Of course, you can adopt any sport that you’d like.
Nonetheless, most activities aren’t as enjoyable as martial arts, and especially BJJ. Because of that, if you can learn self-defense while changing your body in such ways, wouldn’t you take it?
This article will discuss the five primary changes you’ll notice by consistently participating in BJJ training. Moreover, you can also train at home. In fact, I wrote an article on the best ways to train BJJ at home—and I encourage you to read it.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the first physical change.
#5 – BJJ helps you lose weight
The first physical change we’ll discuss is losing weight. Although I’m aware that losing weight isn’t the goal for many people, but shedding excess body fat is. However, most people correlate losing weight to losing body fat.
BJJ helps you lose weight by being an intense activity its trainees go through. The activity will use most of your large muscle groups, such as the legs, back, and chest, while increasing your heart rate. Therefore, you’ll inevitably burn plenty of calories, leading to losing weight.
Of course, losing weight is mostly about nutrition and not how many calories you burn. However, if you keep your eating habits the same and add more activities throughout your day, you’ll find yourself losing weight almost naturally.
Toady, infinite distractions surround us. Therefore, most people automatically get sucked into their comfort zones, which will lead to them being inactive.
Well, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. That light at the end of the tunnel is sports and all physical activities. Naturally, if you allow your body to do more work, by participating in, for example, BJJ, you’ll be losing body fat before you notice.
I do recommend watching the following video on how to eat to shed body fat, as nutrition is the central part in that change.
#4 – BJJ assists in building muscle
The second physical benefit we’ll discuss—is building muscle mass. When you think of a muscular person, you may be thinking of a bodybuilder or someone with large amounts of muscle. However, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Growing your muscle mass doesn’t have to be a drastic change. In fact, it can be smaller than what most people think.
If you do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you’ll use most of your muscle groups, leading to them taking a toll. After the first session, you’ll notice how your muscles feel somewhat sore and tired. That’s because you used them to participate in training.
As a result, you’ll start to notice how your muscles begin to grow—if, of course, you consume appropriate foods.
An increase in muscle mass can help you feel better, both physically and mentally. It is no coincidence that muscular people are usually correlated with more success or solid mental health.
Generally, greater muscle mass has positive health effects. As you get older, you naturally lose muscle mass. This age-related muscle loss, also called sarcopenia, begins at age 30. You continue to lose 3 to 5 percent of muscle mass every decade, which reduces physical function and increases your risk of injury.
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Scientists believe that being inactive in your daily life will contribute to increased chances of having sarcopenia; which, again, is a disease that causes a loss in muscle mass and strength.
#3 – BJJ helps burn more calories
Burning more calories is the one pursuit I hear everyone wanting to achieve. However, everything worthy in life requires going through various hardships. So, if you want to burn more calories, which is a worthy result, you must take action, and sometimes difficult one.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu assists you in burning more calories by being an intense exercise that utilizes all your muscle groups. Burning more calories is a fantastic way of both losing weight and bettering your mental health – by remaining active.
So, one may ask, how many calories does BJJ burn?
On average, a typical BJJ trainee can burn 500 calories in an hour-long session. However, the number of calories you burn depends on how intense the exercise was.
For instance, if your average heart rate was higher than the average during a typical session, you’ll also burn more calories. Naturally, burning more calories is a highly desirable trait—amongst today’s society.
So, if you can do that while learning to fight, isn’t that a win-win situation? If you want to achieve both, you can do that by starting to train in BJJ as soon as possible. That way, you’ll notice more benefits sooner and be more motivated quickly.
Before we continue, I recommend reading an article I wrote about the best grappling dummies for training at home – and how to fill grappling dummies correctly and effectively.
#2 – BJJ betters endurance
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu betters your endurance by constantly elevating your heart rate in training. As a result, your body will build itself by using the time off-training to recover.
To understand why BJJ betters endurance, we must first understand some bro science behind endurance and how it works.
Essentially, your heart pumps out blood to your entire body. This blood carries oxygen and nutrients your muscles need to perform various actions. Now, imagine if your heart was able to pump more blood in each heart beat. That’s the essence of endurance. (Source)
So, by constantly elevating your heart rate, you can increase the amount of blood your heart pumps to your entire body – per pump. As a result, your endurance will inevitably increase if you participate in BJJ.
Of course, every exercise that constantly elevates your heart rate—will improve your endurance. Nonetheless, you can do that with Jiu-Jitsu while learning self-defense and enjoying.
#1 – BJJ improves aerobic and anaerobic shape
Your aerobic and anaerobic shapes play a major role in both your mental and physical health in the long-term. Today, most people don’t bother improving their physical condition through exercise. Well, as you can imagine, is harmful in the long-term.
BJJ improves your aerobic and anaerobic shape by involving both highly intensive and moderate activities. For example, most BJJ sessions will involve sparring (rolling), which is when you fight another trainee. That alone will improve your anaerobic shape since its intensity is higher.
Most exercises focus on a single type of shape. For example, trail running will improve your aerobic shape more than your anaerobic shape. However, HIIT training does the opposite.
Nonetheless, BJJ provides more benefits than just improving physical condition. Other than the link between mental and physical health, it increases your confidence and self-esteem.
If you want to read more about the benefits of martial arts and how it improves confidence and self-esteem, do follow the link to an article of mine.
Does BJJ give you abs?
BJJ gives you abs by allowing you to burn more calories and be more active. Moreover, it uses many muscle groups in the training, including your back, chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. Eventually, these will lead to a better physical shape, leading to visible abs.
Of course, showcasing your abs takes hard work and dedication. Moreover, nutrition plays a central role in this type of transformation. So, do check out the video I previously listed in this article to learn more about how to eat properly.
Final words
BJJ is a suitable platform to positively change yourself. Today, many individuals are inactive and can’t seem to find an activity they want to do. As a result, they remain inactive.
Nonetheless, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a platform for you to shed body fat while being active while learning self-defense. Frankly, that sounds too good to be true in so many ways.
Consequently, if you desire to positively change your physical shape, and thus your body, consider starting to train as soon as possible.
If you enjoyed reading this article, I encourage you to read whether BJJ is effective for self-defense.